The week continued to inch along with only more NEWT work being piled upon the seventh years since they would be taking their exit exams next semester. Despite the massive amounts of crap that was being loaded on them, James and the marauders were thoroughly enjoying themselves. Remus had recovered almost completely from the last full moon, giving the four the opportunity to once again wreak havoc upon Hogwarts. The snow had returned, and was sure to stay for quite some time. The marauders made their way across the third floor to double Charms which filled up their Thursday afternoon. They all sat at their tables as they waited for their professor to come into the room and begin their lesson. Remus and Peter were caught up in some sort of conversation that they were finishing from lunch while James and Sirius were discussing the Quidditch match that was taking place on Saturday between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff.

"Fucking Danny Aldridge is going to pay for last year. That bludger bloody hurt and it was most definitely foul play. Remember? I was in hospital for a week," James said loud enough so a certain red head sitting a few tables away could hear his conversation.

"Sounds about right mate! This is our year for the Quidditch cup to say Gryffindor on it!" Sirius retorted as he tilted his seat so it was balancing on two legs. His thick black hair fell in his face causing quite a few of the girls around him to swoon. Sirius noticed this often and played off of it.

After a few minutes Professor Lawley waltzed into the room and placed his wand at his throat. "Sonorus! Hello class!" The professor's voice bellowed in the classroom catching everyone's attention. "Today we will be learning the Sonorus charm which allows one to project their voice as I am doing now. It is not as simple as it appears so make sure you take care with your partners. Don't want to turn your voice box into a snuff box, now hop to it!"

"Oh this should be a treat," Remus said to James and Sirius as he pulled out his wand. Remus paired with Peter and Sirius with James. They were instructed to stand across the hall from their partner taking turns trying to project their voices so their partner could hear them.

James and Sirius had smug looks on their faces which only meant they had no intention of following this lesson correctly. Remus rolled his eyes and he went on to perform the charm with ease yelling at Peter that it was his turn to try.

"Brilliant Mr. Lupin! Let's see who else can do it" Professor Lawley yelled excitedly as he stood in between the partners in the middle of the room.

Lily rose her wand to her throat and, like Lupin, easily spoke at a loud volume to her partner, Hannah Cunnington. James smiled at Lily's intelligence. Smart and beautiful. He thought aloud. Luckily only Remus heard him, who laughed at his friend's infatuation. James smirked, a gesture which was returned from Sirius before he ran a hand through his hair and raised his wand to his throat. On a few occasions before James had used this spell and had been quite successful so he hoped that it would work this time. The room seemed frozen in time as James belched into his magical megaphone, causing the room to appear to shake. Sirius volleyed his action and thus began the brouhaha in the Charms classroom that would take more than a few minutes to end. People attempted to copy the two boys' action yet many ended up doing the reverse or worse. Some people reversed the spell making themselves temporarily dumb, while others only turned their faces purple or a pleasant shade of cerulean from attempts. Others did what their professor had joked about, making their voice box completely disappear.

Remus gave James a disapproving shake of his head, yet couldn't contain his laughter for too long. Sirius ran over to James' side of the room and gave him a high five. "Another day of Charms ruined once again by the Marauders!" Sirius roared over the screams and yells that were being emitted throughout the room.

Suddenly the room was completely quiet even though everyone's mouths still moved. "POTTER! BLACK! DETENTION!" Professor Lawley wailed. His thick white head of hair was standing on end and his usually rosy cheeks were now a deep purple.

**********

James and Sirius sat at a small table that evening writing lines that said "I will not belch while using the Sonorus charm." It had grown into the wee hours of the night and Professor Lawley had felt that 2,395 lines of the above statement was good enough. The two boys rubbed their sore hands as they began the long trudge back to Gryffindor tower. James massaged his right hand and sighed, "These pains better be gone by Saturday or we will be in a lot of trouble."

"Don't worry mate. They should be fine by morning," Sirius stretched out his fingers as they began to head up the final case of stairs. At last they had reached the Fat Lady's portrait and she lazily asked for the password.

"Mint Humbugs," James returned before the portrait swung open allowing them inside of the common room. Usually at this late hour of night the common room would have very few stragglers, unless there was something due the next day, but the room was rather full and almost silent except for a radio that sat on a table in the middle of the room.

"Reports have revealed that several mangled bodies have been found on the Western edge of the Forbidden Forest by Hogwarts. Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore is taking this very seriously and has created secure safety measures to make sure that the school is not harmed. Many believe this to be the work of the rising dark wizard whom cannot be named. If anyone has any information that they believe could be relevant to this finding, or the work of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, then you must report it to the Aurors department at once. More information will be available at a later time tomorrow on the murdered and their identities." Bellowed the radio before the blank staring teenagers who sat around it.

"This is outrageous! Murders just outside our doors?! What sort of safety measures are being taken?" yelled one rather blonde haired boy who rose from his seat by the radio. Outbursts rose across the room with some people becoming very upset and other racing up to their rooms to tell those who had not heard the report. James and Sirius felt quite confused by this report they just heard on the radio. Remus stood from his seat on a nearby couch and walked over to James and Sirius. "Well this certainly won't help our studies over the next week. I worry this may even conflict with the Quidditch match on Saturday since it is rather close to the forest." Remus rubbed his tired eyes after he said this and then yawned. James didn't quite register what he had said because his mind had frozen on what he had seen a week ago in the forest.

I witnessed at least one of these murders. Voldemort was behind this! I have to tell the headmaster! James turned on his heel and went right back out the portrait to head off to the headmaster's office. He knew what he saw was important and maybe it would be vital to solving the murders and stopping more to come. With his invisibility cloak thrown over himself, James ran to the large gargoyle that stood between him and the headmaster.

"Password?" the gargoyle croaked.

"Lemon Sherbert," James whispered before he saw the gargoyle jump aside and reveal a staircase that took him up to the door. Before he could knock he heard a deep "Enter".

James burst through the door yelling, "Professor Dumbledore! There is something I have to tell you! I heard the radio this eve-"

Dumbledore raised his hand to silence James' rambling. "Calm down Mr. Potter and take a seat." James collapsed into the plush red seat the suddenly appeared behind him. He took a deep breath and began once again. "Professor, no less than a week ago, we were out in the forest quite late in the evening assisting Remus with his monthly problem, as I told you last time," Dumbledore nodded and brought his fingertips together, "Well I decided to explore the western borders of the forest, because the last month I had smelt something that made me a little curious. When I did so I saw… I saw Voldemort. There was a fire and a man who was bound by ropes upon the ground. Along with this, there were some people in black cloaks with masks. I think they may have been students because when they spoke they did not sound very mature. Then Voldemort told them to leave him with the man. He ask him if he had gotten something from the castle and the man said he could not get into "the room" which confused me. Voldemort got angry with him because this man had failed him thrice before so he ordered some snake to feed upon him."

James took a huge gulp of air and relaxed into his chair. "You believe students at my school are assisting Lord Voldemort? Mr. Potter this is a very serious accusation you are making and I would not want to be at fault if I accused any to only find them innocent." James shook his head in understanding. "However, I appreciate you telling me what you saw. This helps me to see what exactly Voldemort's plans may be."

"Plans sir?"

"He is not going to settle with mere murders or theft. I feel that there is much more to this man who has begun to terrorize our world. At the current time I hope to create a group that will be able to fight off Voldemort if he rises to any greater power, which I assume will happen."

"Well, if you do so sir, I would like to join."

Dumbledore looked the young man who sat across from him. James Potter sat rigidly and attentive hanging on each word that Dumbledore said. His glasses sat on the edge of his nose and his hair was tousled as if there had been a great wind in that office. Dumbledore's bright blue eyes twinkled for a moment in the candlelit fires that were shining around the room. James didn't know what exactly to think of the silence that took place in that moment, but it did not give him any comfort.

"I will most definitely allow you to join our fight Mr. Potter," The headmaster finally replied. James loosened up a little, feeling much more hopeful. He stood up and stretched, releasing a small yawn. "Thank you for letting me talk to you professor," James smiled, "I am going to head off to bed, especially since I have class tomorrow." James placed his hand upon the curvy door handle, but it would not budge.

"You say his name without fear and do not use one of those ridiculous nick names they have given him. Why is this?" Dumbledore asked James. He turned around and returned the gaze that his headmaster gave him.

"I dunno. I understand that he has done horrible things, but I do not feel this panic when I think of him. When I saw him I was scared, but now I do not feel so. I know that we can defeat him. It may not be me, but I give the one that does defeat him all of my hope."